Maple Leafs News

Leafs Skate At The Pond

The Toronto Maple Leafs begin a six-game West Coast swing when they take on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at Arrowhead Pond.

The Maple Leafs own a four-game unbeaten streak and remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference following their 4-1 win over Edmonton on Saturday.

Alexander Mogilny had a pair of goals and an assist and Ed Belfour made a season-high 34 saves for Toronto.

Belfour captured his 406th win, moving him into sixth on the NHL's career list, one less than Glenn Hall.

When Toronto lost 7-1 to Philadelphia on Nov. 1, many fans were calling for coach Pat Quinn to be fired. Since then, the Leafs have gone 3-0-1.

"We've had a few games where we got burned pretty bad, but we learned from those," Belfour said. "We've played better defensively."

The cheers this season for Jean-Sebastien Giguere, however, have grown silent.

After posting sparkling numbers in being named MVP of last season's playoffs, the 26-year-old netminder has struggled this season, going 2-8-0 with a 2.79 goals-against average.

Giguere, however, reclaimed his starting job from Martin Gerber on Nov. 2 and has dropped his GAA from 3.01 to 2.43.

He earned his first win since Oct. 22 in a 2-1 overtime victory over Phoenix on Friday.

"Hopefully tonight helps with my confidence. I'll go home feeling good," said Giguere, whose only other victory came in overtime. "We played for 60 minutes and the defensive-zone coverage was much better."

Ducks center Steve Rucchin opened the scoring late in the first period with Anaheim's first short-handed goal this season, and Petr Sykora scored 3:43 into overtime.

Sergei Fedorov assisted on the winner for his first point in five games and the 965th of his career, tying Maurice Richard for 71st place on the NHL career list.